An alternative method to generate pre-initial conditions for cosmological $N$-body simulations

Abstract

Currently, grid and glass methods are the two most popular choices to generate uniform particle distributions (i.e., pre-initial conditions) for cosmological $N$-body simulations. In this article, we introduce an alternative method called the capacity constrained Voronoi tessellation (CCVT), which originates from computer graphics. As a geometrical equilibrium state, a CCVT particle configuration satisfies two constraints: (i) the volume of the Voronoi cell associated with each particle is equal; (ii) every particle is in the center-of-mass position of its Voronoi cell. We show that the CCVT configuration is uniform and isotropic, follows perfectly the minimal power spectrum, $P(k)\propto k^4$, and is quite stable under gravitational interactions. It is natural to incorporate periodic boundary conditions during CCVT making, therefore, we can obtain a larger CCVT by tiling with a small periodic CCVT. When applying the CCVT pre-initial condition to cosmological $N$-body simulations, we show that it plays as good as grid and glass schemes. The CCVT method will be helpful in studying the numerical convergence of pre-initial conditions in cosmological simulations. It can also be used to set up pre-initial conditions in smoothed-particle hydrodynamics simulations.